When Paramount Pictures announced its intent to increase its presence in the video gaming industry, we sort of guessed that this will happen: Paramount is now expanding its interactive department to directly involve itself in the games that the studio will produce or co-produce with other gaming developers. More details in the full article.

It's hard not to be excited about this holiday season when great games are about to hit the shelves. We kid not when we say just looking at Ubisoft's line-up of upcoming titles will give any gamer a field day pondering which one to spend money on. If Assassin's Creed (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) and Haze can't get you riled up, others will.

Ubisoft didn't include solid dates in the list sent through the press wire, but most are coming before 2007 ends. Here are the games:

• Assassin's Creed: One of the most anticipated video games of the year will be coming to the Xbox 360 and the PS3 in November, while the PC version will be out in early 2008.
• Beowulf: Based on Paramount Pictures' and Shangri-La Entertainment's Beowulf, the upcoming feature film from Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis, Beowulf will be released in November on Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3 and PSP.
• Blazing Angels 2 Secret Missions of WWII: Currently available on the Xbox 360, experience World War II on the PS3 this coming holiday. Play as an elite pilot in the follow-up to the successful Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII.
• Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway: Previously expected to be released for holiday 2007, it will be released on next-generation platforms and the PC in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 to 2008. Brothers in Arms Road to Hill 30 for the Nintendo Wii will be released in December.
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Hard Evidence: For the first time, CSI fans will be able to play CSI on the Xbox 360 and on the Wii this holiday.
• Haze: Free Radical Design teams up with Ubisoft to deliver the mind-altering, technologically superior game Haze, exclusively for the Sony PS3 this holiday.
• Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East: Enjoy the dramatic evolution and conclusion of the Heroes V experience this holiday on PC.
• Nitrobike: Navigate rocket-propelled motorcycles in this arcade-style game exclusively for the Wii.
• Naruto: Rise of a Ninja: In a game exclusively developed for Xbox 360 from the ground up, players will be able to experience becoming a shinobi as the game starts from the series' beginning. The game is given an October release date.
  
• Rayman Raving Rabbids 2: The bunnies are back and are crazier than ever in this new game specially developed for the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS this holiday.

Casual gamers aren't left behind, thanks to Ubisoft's massive library. Chessmaster series fans might want to look at Chessmaster: The Art of Learning (DS) and Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition (PC). Cranium Kabooki is a party game on the Nintendo Wii with fun minigames like jamming, drawing, and acting. Imagine games are set to capture the ladies with Fashion Designer, Master Chef, and Animal Doctor on the Nintendo DS.

Another line of games from Ubisoft is My Coach which has titles like My French Coach, My Spanish Coach, and My Word Coach that appear on Nintendo platforms to expand our vocabulary. There's also Petz that comes in all flavors of pet training for the DS, PS2, PC, and Wii.

Sierra Entertainment has announced that it will be bringing the world of The Spiderwick Chronicles to video game consoles next year. The game will be based on the upcoming 2008 theatrical release of The Spiderwick Chronicles from Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Films.

The film is in turn based on the best-selling book series by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. The story revolves around twin brothers Jared and Simon as they, along with their sister Mallory, embark on a perilous journey filled with requisite amounts of adventure and danger.

The Spiderwick Chronicles promises to authentically recreate the world of Jared, Simon and Mallory Grace. It's currently slated for a February release and will be available for PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Wii and DS.

 

The Nintendo DS release of Transformers: The Game shows a lot of promise. For the 80s generation, this game is a wonderful blast from the past. The game is based on the upcoming film from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures which is heading to movie theaters this July. Vicarious Visions has been given the task of developing this video game, and from the list of features the it has, it doesn't look like they will be disappointing fans of the series.

Essentially a battle between two factions, the Autobots and Decepticons, this game lets you decide whether you will be a protector or a destroyer of our planet. There are two versions of the game, the Autobot and Decepticon version, with the former gaining access to the Antarctic level and the latter getting the Desert level to play in. Enormous open environment city levels such as Casino Town and Hoover Dam will also be available for you to wage war in.

Players will be able to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to take part in the AllSpark Wars where they can help their side win via daily challenge missions and global player stats comparisons. Access to 30 unique vehicles with customizable paint schemes will be available so players can create their own customized Transformers. These custom Transformers raise their stats and abilities with every mission you play.

The game features 20 story missions and 20 challenge missions. Local wireless multiplayer modes for up to four players will also be available just in case you get tired of playing with yourself. Popular teamplay modes such as Team Death Match will be available in addition to new unique modes such as AllSpark Sports.
 
Trasformers: The Game is also available on other formats such as the PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360. The Nintendo DS version, however, is slated to be out this June 6. If you'd like to see more about the game, why don't you check out our previous coverage on it with screenshots?